There has hardly been any
accessory for the Leica cameras that hasn’t been offered by Leitz/Leica in one
form or another and still, other companies have made a variety of accessories
that proved to be a valid alternative to their Leitz/Lerica made counterparts. Some of them even elevated to the status of the
very rare, collectible accessories.
One such accessory is the
adjustable Braun Universalsucher (Universal Viewfinder). Just like the Leitz Imarect finder the Brown
offers adjustable viewing fields for 35/38mm, 45/50mm, 85/90mm and 135mm and
parallax correction in meters and feet from 0.35 meters (1.5 feet) to infinity.
Leitz Imarect Viewfinder
Braun Universalsucher
Focal Length and Parallax
Adjustments
Viewfinder set for 85/90mm
Leica III with Braun finder
Unlike the Leica M cameras,
the Leica screw mount cameras had no adjustable viewfinders and therefore lack
any possibility for previewing focal lengths other than 50mm. The only exception was the Leica IIIg which
also had a viewing frame for 90mm lenses.
With those cameras the Brown viewfinder, just like the Imarect, allows
the use of other focal lengths by simply adjusting the viewing frame of the
finder.
It is definitely not as
sophisticated as the Imarect, but that doesn’t diminish its usefulness at
all. I used one for many years on
various Leica screw mount cameras with lenses from 35mm to 135mm.
Even today I use it
occasionally with my Leica Digilux 2 for night shots. While the electronic viewfinder of the
Digilux 2 is not at all bad under normal lighting conditions, it is virtually
useless at night. Framing is almost impossible. With the help of the Braun adjustable
viewfinder I am able to cover the focal length range of the Leica DC Vario
Summicron with the exception of focal lengths wider than 35mm. Even with the lens at 28mm the finder has
proven to be useful in aiming the camera correctly.
Thus this little accessory
from years past still is of value beyond that of a collector’s item and I am
glad to see that it still works just as well as it did when it was first made.
Not all accessorie
viewfinders were just meant to allow the use of other focal length lenses on
the Leica. Some also allowed for more
precise focusing of the camera. The
rarest of these accessory viewfinder was the Flexameter. It too fit onto the accessory shoe of the
camera. Unlike a rangefinder, the
Flexometer utilized a 50mm Kühn-Rekatar f/2.8 lens which projected an image
onto a ground glass where it could be focused.
A flip up magnifier allowed for more accurate focusing. The subject distance was then read off the
lens and transferred to the camera lens.
The Flexameter essentially converted the camera to a twin lens reflex
design.
Flexameter on Leica IIIg
Top view with focusing
magnifier folded up
Flexameter with original
packaging
The Flexameter was made in
Wetzlar by the company of Kühn. The name
will be familiar to many that are interested in the history of the Leica. Frau Dr. Elsie Kühn-Leitz was the sister of
Ernst Leitz II. Her husband Kurt Kühn
established a small company in Wetzlar for the manufacture of camera
accessories, one of which was the Flexameter in the mid 1930s. Of course cameras other than Leica could be
used with the Flexameter also, but it was mostly sold to be used with Leica
cameras.
Today the Flexameter is a
rather rare collector’s item with only a few left. It is definitely one of the more unique
accessories for the Leica cameras. Even
though it was made by a company other than Leitz, its uniqueness is further
underscored by the connection to the Leitz family and the Leica camera.
________________________________________________________________________________________
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